Comets Cruise Past Sparks
When the deed was done, when many in the Compaq Center crowd of 14,597 were still in their seats chanting “Beat L.A.!” instead of going home, Coach Michael Cooper of the Sparks was asked to put his team’s 77-56 loss to the Houston Comets in perspective.
He couldn’t, he said, but was then asked if the Sparks’ effort in the WNBA’s Western Conference finals opener was worse than a 69-59 loss at Seattle in early June, previously recognized as the Sparks’ worst game of the season.
“In that game at Seattle, we played about 30 minutes of bad basketball,” said Cooper, clearly seething.
“Tonight, we played 39 minutes of bad basketball.”
And so after a 28-4 regular season, then a two-game blitz of the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the playoffs, the Sparks picked Thursday night for their biggest stinker of the summer.
The Sparks, with a chance to deliver a near-knockout blow to Houston by winning the opener of the best-of-three series, came out with only a fraction of the effort they showed in beating the Comets three times in the regular season.
Here’s how bad it was:
* The Sparks were down, 19-4, within eight minutes and 36-16 within 15.
* They made only 36.2% of their shots and committed 23 turnovers.
* There were long stretches when it seemed that every loose ball, every errant bounce went Houston’s way. It’s called hustle, and for once the Sparks didn’t have it.
Cooper saluted the victors, who can reach the WNBA finals for the fourth consecutive year with a victory in Game 2 Sunday at the Great Western Forum.
“The Comets played a very good game--they did what a championship team had to do, win the first game of the playoffs,” he said.
“I just hope we got this one out of our system, because I didn’t like our effort tonight. We were playing a team that behaved like sharks smelling blood in the water.”
The loss, only the Sparks’ second since July 11, had something in common with the team’s other four summer losses, according to Lisa Leslie.
“This is what happens when we don’t follow the game plan our coaches prepare for us,” said the Spark forward, who had 14 points and eight rebounds.
“We lost four games because we didn’t listen to the coaches, now tonight was the fifth. We just weren’t on the same page tonight.”
The Sparks’ only offensive punch was supplied by Mwadi Mabika, who made seven of 11 three-point shots and scored 21 points.
For Houston, league MVP Sheryl Swoopes scored 22 points and Cynthia Cooper had 21. Normally, if you hold one of Houston’s “Big Three” to low numbers, you win. The Sparks did, but misfired in so many facets of their game that limiting Tina Thompson to 12 points and five rebounds didn’t amount to much.
Tamecka Dixon, limited to two points on one-of-nine shooting by the defense of Janeth Arcain, seemed stumped.
“I didn’t see this coming,” she said.
“We had a good practice yesterday. We just weren’t in focus, that’s all. We had all those turnovers and played our worst basketball of the season.”
To DeLisha Milton, the difference between the Sparks’ 84-74 victory at Houston on July 29 and Thursday’s Comet rout was stunning.
“That night, we were clicking on all cylinders,” she said. “Tonight we seemed almost spastic. We kept digging ourselves in a deeper hole. Houston came out very focused and seemed to know exactly what we wanted to run. And we had all those turnovers, and our shots weren’t falling.”
The Comets’ coach, Van Chancellor, conceded that point, particularly Dixon’s missing touch.
“They missed a lot of shots they normally make,” he said. “I’m very proud of the defensive effort my team made tonight. They took on the most explosive team in the WNBA and just did a great job. Now, we need an even better one Sunday at their place.”
Until midway through the second half, the Sparks seemed capable of pulling even with a sustained burst, but no one pulled the trigger. They were within 48-34 with 14:22 to play, then went nearly four minutes without a field goal.
Was too much made of the Sparks’ three-game regular-season sweep of the Comets? Swoopes seemed to think so.
“This is the playoffs,” she said. “I never gave that a thought and I don’t think anyone else did, either. We had players hurt in those three games. This is when you’re supposed to raise your game, and we did that tonight.”
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WEST FINALS
Best of Three
GAME 1
Comets: 77
Sparks: 56
GAME 2
1 p.m. Sunday
at Forum, Ch. 4
GAME 3
7 p.m. Monday*
at Forum, ESPN
* if necessary
Swoopes
Wins Vote
Sheryl Swoopes of Houston is the WNBA’s most valuable player. Page 12